In May 1886 he set out to find a band of men who had stolen horses from his and neighboring ranches, and after trailing them for several months he killed some of the thieves and captured the rest in New Mexico; he returned the horses to his neighbors. This exploit gained the attention of the Texas Rangers. Ranger Ira Aten enlisted Hughes’s help in tracking an accused murderer, and Hughes assisted in finding the fugitive. He was persuaded to enlist in the Rangers at Georgetown, sworn in on August 10, 1887, and assigned to Company D, Frontier Battalion, at Camp Wood. He served mainly along the border between Texas and Mexico. In 1893 Hughes was a sergeant in charge of a Ranger detachment at Alpine.
Following the death of Capt. Frank Jones of Company D in 1893, John Hughes was made captain of the border company and sought more collaborative relationships with both local and Mexican officials. He was frequently in the El Paso area. To quell crossover violence and supposed banditry, Hughes developed relationships with the revolution’s leadership, such as Francisco Villa, and local Mexican residents. At the turn of the twentieth century, smuggling, ranch raids, and political instability in Mexico contributed to tension and the official and public perception of lawlessness along the border. Tensions between the Mexican community and the Rangers became highly localized and retained an element of racial animosity. Unlike many of his predecessors, Captain Hughes eased tensions through diplomacy as he did in 1908 when a group of vigilantes demanded that S. A. Wright, an Anglo who killed a Mexican resident, be handed over to the mob. Hughes convinced the mob to stand down and took the prisoner safely to face justice. He served mainly along the border between Texas and Mexico. Known as the “Border Boss,” he contended with cattle rustling, thefts at the Shafter silver mines, and horse stealing, among other crimes. In October 1909 he led the team of Rangers in charge of protecting President William Howard Taft and Gen. Porfirio Díaz during their meeting in El Paso. He was later appointed senior captain, with headquarters in Austin, and in January 1915, having served as a captain and Ranger longer than any other man, he retired from the force. Zane Grey's novel The Lone Star Ranger (1914) is dedicated to Hughes and his Texas Rangers.
Hughes never married and was a deeply religious man. He served for many years as a superintendent of a Sunday school in Ysleta, Texas. He spent his later years prospecting and traveling by automobile. He became chairman of the board of directors and largest single stockholder of the Citizens Industrial Bank of Austin but maintained his residence at his ranch in Ysleta, near El Paso. In 1940 he was selected the first recipient of the Certificate of Valor, an award inaugurated to call attention to the bravery of peace officers of the nation. Hughes moved to Austin to live with a niece, and on June 3, 1947, at the age of ninety-two, he took his own life with his pearl-handled Colt .45 pistol. He was in poor health and although never officially diagnosed according to close friends and family he suffered from depression. Hughes was the oldest living Ranger captain at the time of his death and the last of the so-called “Four Great Captains” - a reference to the captains of the four companies that emerged from the reorganization of the Rangers in 1901. He is an inductee in the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame. Source
Republic Hill
Texas State Cemetery
Austin
COORDINATES
30° 15.939, -097° 43.636
